The invention is related to less-lethal projectiles shot from a gun or weapon, and is particularly directed to its ammunition in the product form of a bean bag, for striking a target such as a living human being or animal, without killing or seriously injuring such being, and to the process by which it is made.
a) Background to the Invention
Peaceful control of mobs, riot participants, picketers, and, individuals intent upon committing a criminal act, has been a constant goal-alternative to lethal force, for not only police authorities but also to trained and certified persons seeking to defend themselves against a criminal act by one or more persons. The technology of perfecting an ammunition of a less lethal nature was found in a major inception in this country during the 1960""s, presumably by The MBA Company (Austin, Tex.) later bought out by Trebor Corporation in 1980 existing at that time in Dublin and Pleasanton, Calif. Various non-lethal projectiles have been generated before and since then and are disclosed in the following U.S. Letters Patent, and possibly others classified in the United States Patent Office patent classification, Class 102, Ammunition and Explosives, including subclass 502 in Class 102, and elsewhere: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,741,901; 3,049,828; 3,710,720; 3,733,727; 3,782,286; 3,791,303; 3,820,465; 3,865,038; 3,901,158; 3,911,824; 3,952,662; 5,450,795; 4,204,474; 4,823 702; 4,942,818; 5,009,164; 5,035,183; 5,086,703; 5,221,809; 5,225,628; 5,317,163; 5,361,700; 5,375,529; 5,450,795; 5,565,649; 5,639,526; 5,652,407; 5,654,524; 5,691,501; 5,786,546; 5,814,753; 5,831,199; 5,880,398; and 5,936,190.
b) Problems in the State-of-the Art
The bean bag ammunition technology to date has continued to advance in kind and degree for achieving a perfected goal, however, actual practice, experience, and technology in seeking perfected protection in its various formats, indicated in some of the above noted patents, has not yet been attained, as the problems of poor stabilization of the ammunition in flight, poor accuracy in the line of flight to the target, and poor material which continues to break sometimes spewing its shot randomly, thus hindering an efficacious effectiveness at the target, remain.
c) Need for the Invention
The need remains to perfect a less lethal projectile in a fuller sense, namely, one which would stun or effectively incapacitate a living being without killing or seriously injuring such being. With a human being who would be clothed in kind and degree, this invention advantageously approaches such criteria in its operation of striking a human being.
This invention is directed to a perfected less-lethal ammunition suitable for installation in a cartridge or shell of a projectile found in a gun or weapon, such as a conventional handgun, such as for example, in a 12-gauge shotgun and in the process by which it is formed. The ammunition for the projectile takes a product form commonly referred to as a xe2x80x9cbean bagxe2x80x9d, and has a frontal compartment or chamber contiguous to its nose, pre-measured weighted pellets contained in and substantially filling the compartment sized for the weighted pellets, a flowing structure, providing stability of the bean bag in flight, trailing but separated from the compartment by a fastening device for the bean bag, and a peripheral curl or roll at the edge of the open end of the flowing structure which provides accuracy in the flight of the bean bag to its target after being propelled from its weapon or gun. The bean bag is formed from a tubular open-ended sleeve of non-frangible, non-ruptureable, material which in its fabric construction of the bean bag does not break upon impact on a target, while efficaciously effecting a mushrooming shape upon such impact, thus preventing penetration, killing or seriously injuring a living target or another person. The tubular sleeve""s length is determined by the weight of the fabric of the tubular sleeve rather than by its length. The bean bag""s weight of the total pellets to be contained in substantially filling the compartment is determined by weight of their total number and not the number itself disposed in the compartment. Subsequent to the fastening between the compartment""s body and the flowing structure that trails behind the compartment""s body, a peripheral curl or roll is formed around and at the open end of the trailing structure for providing accuracy towards a target during flight of the bean bag.
In the formation of the bean bag, from an indeterminate length of a tubular open-end sleeve a definite length by weight of the open-ended sleeved material is cut and its one end is slipped over a mandrel, such as a hollow plastic tube firmly supported in a fixed support base or receptacle, to the extent of an indicium marked at a level about the mandrel or tube. The indicium signals the proper position for the open end of a shorter portion of the sleeve, the shorter portion to form the compartment""s body and in which the weighted shot is to be contained. A knotted cord or the like closes off this shorter portion from the remainder of the sleeve at the end of the mandrel on to which the sleeve has been first introduced. The remainder of the sleeve above such end of the mandrel is longer than the length of the shorter portion, and lapped or doubled back over the shorter portion to its fullest extent, i.e., being contiguous to the sleeve""s material at the closed-off level at the mandrel""s end and about the entire shorter portion itself, extending at its other and open end beyond or below the indicium on the tube, thus beyond the open end of the shorter portion, thereby preparing in the formation of a flowing structure for the bean bag. The tube and sleeve at this point of assembly is removed from the mandrel""s support base and turned or inverted so that a measured weight of pellets, such as shotgun lead pellets, can be introduced into the hollow mandrel or tube and extending past its bottom to the closed-off level of the shorter portion of the sleeve still wrapped on the tube, i.e., the bottom of the weighed pellets seat within the tube, proximate to the knotted cord on the outside of the sleeve, and up through the hollowness of the tube. The mandrel is removed from the sleeve and now the pellets are housed within the shorter portion.
The shorter portion of the sleeve with its pellets at this point is placed into the fixed receptacle. The top rim of an annulus attached to the inner wall of the receptacle is the indicator for determining the location of a fastening device, such as another cord or the like to be applied, and which when applied about the outer longer portion of the sleeve determines the size of the compartment that is generated within the interiorly disposed shorter portion and which size satisfies the filling of the compartment to its fullest with the pre-measured weighted shot in front of the fastening device. This is important for effecting the desired result of less-lethal impact upon proper use of the gun or weapon from which the bean bag is propelled. With the fastening together of the interiorly disposed shorter sleeve portion and the longer sleeve portion, the longer sleeve portion remains to generate the flowing structure trailing in a fanned-out or cone-like fashion. A peripheral curl or roll then is applied along the open end of the trailing portion of the longer portion to effect an accuracy in line of flight of the bean bag to its target. After the fastening together and the formation of the curl or roll have been completed, the bean bag of this invention has been produced. It is now ready for inclusion in a cartridge or shell of the projectile from which it can be discharged in the customary manner of detonating a primer at the rear of the cartridge or shell to ignite the cartridge""s propellant to propel the bean bag from the barrel of its gun or weapon towards its target. The filling of the cartridge at its leading open end with the perfected bean bag whereby completion of the assembly to the cartridge or shell is accomplished in a conventional manner by customary techniques known in the ammunition industry.
An object of this invention is to provide a novel bean bag for a projectile of ammunition.
A further object of this invention is to prevent killing or serious injury to a living target.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a less-lethal projectile whose line of fire from the weapon from which it is fired is true to its target.
Another object of this invention is to provide protection to innocent persons against persons intent to riot and against persons intent to commit a criminal act upon another or others.
A still further object of this invention is to provide police, other law enforcement authorities, and trained and certified users of less-lethal weapons with an effective tool to control or otherwise minimize or eliminate unpeaceful assemblies of human beings.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide law enforcement with an alternative to lethal force for criminal apprehension.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an effective tool against animals for the purpose of preventing them from injuring others.